More than a million passengers face Christmas travel misery after British Airways cabin crew announced a 12-day strike in a bitter row over jobs, pay and working conditions.

The union Unite stunned the airline by announcing a walkout from December 22 to January 2 following a 9-1 vote in favour of industrial action.

British Airways passengers face a winter of discontent if a 12-day strike goes ahead

BA said the strikes were “completely unjustified”, while rival airlines moved to tempt customers affected by the action.

Len McCluskey, Unite’s assistant general secretary, said he hoped the size of the vote would force BA to reopen negotiations.

“More than nine out of 10 staff are saying that what is happening is wrong – they want to be treated with dignity and respect. We have taken this decision to disrupt passengers with a heavy heart and we are hoping that the company can still avoid it happening.

“We would like passengers to be angry with the company. It is something of an irony that the people responsible for making BA the best airline in the world are now engaged in a dispute.”

Mr McCluskey said the cabin crew were not “mindless militants”, but decent men and women who were proud of BA and did not want to bring the company down.

The strike will ground hundreds of flights and cost BA millions of pounds on top of its current losses of around £1.5 million a day.

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh called the strike “senseless”, saying: “It is very sad that they are seeking to use the Christmas holiday plans and family reunions of hundreds of thousands of people to try to pursue their case.”

The union warned of further strikes if the long-running dispute was not resolved. Officials said it was one of the biggest turnouts in a ballot and one of the largest majorities for industrial action.